From the TI-85 to the Commodore 64 Astrological memories

[Cosmiccradle]

When I started on Astrology everything had to be done by hand. Planets, Houses, Aspects, Midpoints you name it. Books with tables and off you went. I was happy when I had enough money to buy the Texas Instruments TI-85. Through trial and error I managed to input the ability to calculate the houses and planets which made things a lot easier. Later still I fell into dream land when I bought my Commodore 64 (which I still have) and my first astrological program Ptolemy with a matrix printer. How we have moved on with the couple of seconds for calculations we now have. But it was a romantic period, however you look at it.

 

[waybread]

I never learned how to calculate a chart by hand. I think commercial astrological software and on-line sites like Astrodienst were hugely important in democratizing astrology.

 

[katydid]

When I started on Astrology everything had to be done by hand. Planets, Houses, Aspects, Midpoints you name it. Books with tables and off you went. I was happy when I had enough money to buy the Texas Instruments TI-85. Through trial and error I managed to input the ability to calculate the houses and planets which made things a lot easier. Later still I fell into dream land when I bought my Commodore 64 (which I still have) and my first astrological program Ptolemy with a matrix printer. How we have moved on with the couple of seconds for calculations we now have. But it was a romantic period, however you look at it.

I remember those days of calculating by hand. It took a lot to calculate each angle and then each planet and draw it up before an appointment.

Total nightmare if they arrived and told you they just found the birth certificate and they were 7 hours off.

I had a Texas TI-85. It was like a dream come true. I also bought one of the first Apple home computers when they were released. There was an Astrology program, can't remember---maybe SolarFire? My Virgo Astrologer boyfriend taught me how to use it. It really sped things up and helped me keep up. I think it was probably about 1980 or 81?

It printed out in HUGE collated paper rolls, in black and white ink and very square-ish charts.

 

[FraterAC]

I calculated many (many!) charts by hand, and progressed them using ACD's written into the margin of my hardcopy ephemerides. Xeroxed my hand-drawn chart blanks, off hours on the company's Xerox machine. It took me close to an hour to calculate and draw out a natal chart.
Personal computers in those days cost over $30,000 adjusted for today's dollars; more than the cars I was driving, completely out of reach.
A few years later I loaded the shareware version of Halloran's AstroDeluxe onto a 386 with a dot-matrix printer and I was on my way.
I agree computerization has democratized astrology (say what you will).

 

[Cosmiccradle]

I remember those days of calculating by hand. It took a lot to calculate each angle and then each planet and draw it up before an appointment.

Total nightmare if they arrived and told you they just found the birth certificate and they were 7 hours off.

I had a Texas TI-85. It was like a dream come true. I also bought one of the first Apple home computers when they were released. There was an Astrology program, can't remember---maybe SolarFire? My Virgo Astrologer boyfriend taught me how to use it. It really sped things up and helped me keep up. I think it was probably about 1980 or 81?

It printed out in HUGE collated paper rolls, in black and white ink and very square-ish charts.

Only drawback with the TI-85 was that you had to be careful when changing the batteries. You the flat one for backup and the AAA 4x. If both were empty at the same time you last all of the input which was a real pain.

 

[Nailu]

If and when the time is right I'd like to learn drawing charts without a computer. Just for the sake of being able to do so.

For those who can and did, does that hour or so of calculating and drawing, bring you into the chart at all?
I can imagine it being a calm and grounded way to build up a sence for the chart and what it offers.

 

[John Thompson]

I remember doing everything by hand and even doing harmonic charts with a calculator; masochistic or what? Then got an Amstrad and was using Astrolog software if I remember correctly. The computer and dot matrix printer was so bulky; much prefer my laptop.

 

[John Thompson]

For those who can and did, does that hour or so of calculating and drawing, bring you into the chart at all?
I can imagine it being a calm and grounded way to build up a sence for the chart and what it offers.

Definitely, and without drawing in the aspect lines, helped in recognising aspects in your head.

 

[Nailu]

Definitely, and without drawing in the aspect lines, helped in recognising aspects in your head.

Nice (on the harmonics as well!).
Heard others say that, inspiring to do so and wonder how people here think about it.
On YouTube (I know) Steve Judd made reference to it by saying:"if you can't draw a map by hand you're not a real astrologer". Though he seems to be backing away from that stance.

 

[John Thompson]

Nice (on the harmonics as well!).
Heard others say that, inspiring to do so and wonder how people here think about it.
On YouTube (I know) Steve Judd made reference to it by saying:"if you can't draw a map by hand you're not a real astrologer". Though he seems to be backing away from that stance.

If you take away the aspect lines it makes you work harder, but with relatively little effort really sharpens recognising all aspects and hemisphere dominance etc.

 

[FraterAC]

Definitely, and without drawing in the aspect lines, helped in recognising aspects in your head.

I agree completely. I still don't use aspect lines and consider them useless clutter.
However I'm not nostalgic. We can do much more now.

 

[FraterAC]

If and when the time is right

The time is right, now.
It can easily be learned in a couple of hours or an afternoon.
I'd recommend Simplified Scientific Astrology by Max Heindel. It provides only what you need to do it manually. More comprehensive, Alan Oken's Complete Astrology.
You will need an ephemeris and table of houses too.

 

[John Thompson]

I agree completely. I still don't use aspect lines and consider them useless clutter.
However I'm not nostalgic. We can do much more now.

I won't use aspect lines, and find some of the charts posted here are giving aspect lines with an orb up to ten degrees. Ridiculous, and if we only have lines at the cost of degrees and minutes, much of the time we can't see if aspects are applying or separating. These are the type of issues which are so important.

 

[Cosmiccradle]

If and when the time is right I'd like to learn drawing charts without a computer. Just for the sake of being able to do so.

For those who can and did, does that hour or so of calculating and drawing, bring you into the chart at all?
I can imagine it being a calm and grounded way to build up a sence for the chart and what it offers.

I never found it tedious. I enjoyed working by hand. Calculating and drawing the charts. You need a house table book and an ephemeris. I used both noon and midnight ephemeris, I believe that you will be able to find those online.

 

[Cosmiccradle]

I won't use aspect lines, and find some of the charts posted here are giving aspect lines with an orb up to ten degrees. Ridiculous, and if we only have lines at the cost of degrees and minutes, much of the time we can't see if aspects are applying or separating. These are the type of issues which are so important.

Aspects are important, however depending on things like orb and applying/separating and increasing/decreasing. I use small orbs, around two degrees, I give the sun and moon what more space around 5 degrees.

 

[John Thompson]

When I first started lecturing, I was hand drawing charts with two pieces of A1 paper Sellotaped together, and constructing them on my kitchen floor. The glyphs of the planets were the size of your hand, but this practice was brilliant on the meditational side of understanding them.

 

[FraterAC]

I agree the more time we spend hovering over and staring at the charts, the better off we are.

 

[FraterAC]

I agree the more time we spend hovering over and staring at the charts, the better off we are.

The thing is, we need to engage the intuition and articulate that. For many of us it isn't instantaneous (although sometimes it is). It's not the intellectual function (alone) we need to be using IMO. Intellect is dimension reduction.
That's why I hate keywords, useful as they can be at times (for stimulating the intuition).
As my old pal Gurdjieff said, we need to understand these things by taste, by smell -- ie experientially.

 

[John Thompson]

I agree the more time we spend hovering over and staring at the charts, the better off we are.

It's like having a good book, where one paragraph can have us pondering for the next half hour or more.

 

[John Thompson]

The thing is, we need to engage the intuition and articulate that. For many of us it isn't instantaneous (although sometimes it is). It's not the intellectual function (alone) we need to be using IMO. Intellect is dimension reduction.
That's why I hate keywords, useful as they can be at times (for stimulating the intuition).
As my old pal Gurdjieff said, we need to understand these things by taste, by smell -- ie experientially.

Loved the writings of Gurdjieff. My Mrs can be so superstitious, so often quote ' superstition is an emotional attitude toward a lie' LOL.